Modbus is a single master/multiple slave network communications protocol originally defined by Modicon for factory floor automation equipment. The master sends a query message frame addressed to a slave and, if the slave is present, the slave sends a response frame. The query/response interaction is called a transaction. Heretofore, Modbus system components have been set up to communicate either via ASCII character message frames or Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) binary message frames, but not both. Although a system is typically in the ASCII mode or the RTU mode during normal operation, it is cumbersome to change the mode of the system for troubleshooting purposes. While the RTU mode provides the best performance, troubleshooting via the RTU message frames can be more difficult, requiring proper software drivers loaded into a controller/computer to communicate via the RTU mode.